She heard Josh come in whistling and went out to meet him.
“Congratulations, Mr. MVP,” she greeted him, kissing him. He wrapped her in his arms and held her close, his lips lingering on hers, his tongue teasing while his hands caressed her back. After a minute, though, he stepped back and sniffed.
“Spaghetti again?” he asked, walking into the kitchen.
“I … I really don’t cook a lot, she admitted. “Do you mind?”
“Not at all. You’re off?”
“With Shelley back, I don’t have to go back to the store for a while. I probably will, but — ”
“Not now. So, are you ready to give me an answer?”
“About?”
“Dating a player. This player.”
Mandy shot him a startled look. “We’ve seen each other almost every day since you brought Shelley home for my birthday. I’ve been cooking for you — spaghetti — every time you tell me you’ll eat here. Doesn’t that count as dating?”
“Mandy, did Shelley tell you why she couldn’t come home before?”
She didn’t want to give Shelley’s answer, but she knew he’d tell her if she didn’t say the words. “Pride,” she said. “And fear.”
He put his hands on her shoulders. “Pride and fear. She thought you’d blame her for your father’s illness. She hated the way Skypes dumped her. She was afraid you wouldn’t accept her little girl. Pride and fear — and she lived hand to mouth without anything but pride and fear and a little girl’s love. Mandy, give yourself more than that.”
“Josh, I don’t think we should rush this.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “The last few days have been everything I thought I could never have. It scares me. You scare me.”
“I scare you?”
She could hear the teasing tone in his question, but he needed to understand. “You’re more than I could bear to lose, Josh. And we really haven’t spent much time together — ”
“Okay, so we date. Keep dating,” he corrected. “But not for too long, Mandy. Because I want it all. I want you. I want a chance at forever with you.”
She stared at him, words clogging her throat but unable to voice her lingering fears. Or her hopes.
“Every game I play, I play to win,” he said softly, holding her gently against the counter, cutting off escape. “And every game, I play from the heart. I love baseball, and I know I might not win — but I know the games only matter when I step out on that field, Mandy. Love’s like that, sweetheart — if you’re not on the field, you don’t even have a chance at winning.” He stared into her face, his emotions unmasked. “Give us that chance, Mandy.”
Did he know how openly his intense gaze challenged her, comforted her, embraced her? She suddenly knew they could win. She wrapped her arms around him and urged him close, until there was no space between them for fear or pride.
“Play ball,” she whispered.
About the Author
Mention writing to most first grade students — or teachers — and everyone runs from the room, screaming or crying, respectively. I, however, love the challenge of convincing the technology kids of today that words create everything they use, everything they enjoy. Yes, even those horrible cartoons and video games that are so foreign to me now. And the songs.
I, myself, was a published writer in first grade, first by the school principal, then by a novel but short-lived magazine written entirely by kids. I still remember the title: Kids. Paid me $1.50 for the last rhyming poem I ever wrote. “Dolphins are nice though they don’t like ice” something something.
Luckily, my poetry no longer rhymes, and my stories strive to portray the mishmash of cultures, events, characters, and times that are our lives — all our lives, even if not everyone had a lion or a roadside amusement park or hid in an arroyo on their wedding day.
There’s a circuitous route through most of our lives, and the publishing company that helped me learn to submit work for publication through their magazines and annual Writers Market, F&W Media, is now publishing my debut novel with Crimson Romance.
A lifetime of words away from first grade, but hopefully, you’ll enjoy my words. I love hearing from readers, and hope you’ll visit me one of these days.
Because words still have power, and always will.
Want more Leslie P. Garcia? Be sure to check the end of this book for a sneak peek from another Crimson Romance by this author!
Contents
Trapped by Cupid
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
About the Author
Trapped by Cupid
Nicole Flockton
To my beautiful niece, Michelle.
I’m so glad that you’ve discovered the love of reading and I’m so thrilled that it was my books that led the way.
Acknowledgments
To my fellow authors, Debra Kayn, Holley Trent, and Rachel Cross, I’m honored to be included in this anthology with you.
Tara Gelsomino, thanks for your insight on how to make this story stronger and making me dig further into the characters to find out what makes them tick.
My street team, Nicole’s Ninjas, thanks for always being there to support me and cheer me on. Your friendship means the world to me.
The girls on WWR, it’s so good to have a group where we can share our ups and downs and have an abundance of support, which makes this journey so much easier to deal with.
To my readers, I wouldn’t be continually trying to improve myself and write more stories if it weren’t for you buying them. Thank you.
Jason, thanks for always listening to my ramblings and for helping me to sound out ideas with you.
Chapter One
Lisa Wheeler looked up from her pile of towering charts and paperwork, took in the institutional green walls, and wished she were anywhere but here. It was just her luck to get stuck doing a night shift at the hospital on the most romantic day of the year—Valentine’s Day.
Not that she had anyone special to spend the evening with. She hadn’t been on a date in months. Her plans had been to sit on the couch, munch her way through a packet of Tim Tam cookies and watch her favorite romantic movies, Love Actually and then Notting Hill.
But instead, due to a last-minute shift change, she was now going to be spending the evening cleaning up puke, helping to stitch up the bloody heads of people who thought standing on a balcony and declaring their undying love was romantic … until they fell and ended up in the ER. She’d heard all the stories and wasn’t looking forward to what the evening was going to bring.
Sighing she picked up her pen and started making notes again on the chart, ignoring the latest squeal of delight when yet another flower delivery arrived. Was this what it was always like in the ER on Valentine’s Day? Being a romantic at heart she couldn’t help but wish that maybe one of the deliveries could be for her. From whom she had no idea, but she could dream.
“I’m sure your delivery is just moments away.”
Was the comment directed at her? Had she said spoken out loud? She looked up, spying two people standing a couple of feet away from where she was working. Nope, it definitely was not for her.
The high-pitched giggle belonging to Charlotte, one of the other nurses on duty, grated on Lisa’s nerve endings. She gripped her pen a little tighter, tamping down the desire to stab it hard into the paper.
“Oh, Noah, there’s only one delivery I’m waiting for. If you know what I mean.”
The temptation to vomit was huge. Could she be any more obvious in wanting the one man every single woman in the hospital wanted? Charlotte might as well tweet it out for the world to see, I want to date Dr. Sexy Green Eyes #ValentinesDay #dreamdate #sexydoc.
Aware their conversation was being observed, Dr. Noah Collins sudden
ly turned his piercing green eyes onto her. Mischief lit their depths and he took a couple of steps until he was leaning against the counter she was working at. “How about you, Nurse Wheeler? Are you expecting any deliveries this evening? Or maybe you’ve already received some?”
She clenched her jaw at the emphasis he placed on her name. He probably thought he was teasing her. He wasn’t. “Not that—”
“Oh, Lisa’s too busy establishing her career to worry about dating, isn’t that right?” Charlotte cooed in that super sickly sweet way she had. “I’m pretty sure romance is the last thing a newly graduated nurse has on her mind.”
Lisa had never really got on with Charlotte, and now she was reminded why. She wasn’t about to confess her secret desire to be swept off her feet by a handsome stranger for her and Dr. Collins to cackle over. She had hoped Cupid might decide this year was her year, but it looked like he was ignoring her again. Maybe he was sitting this one out on the couch watching Love Actually too.
“Oh yeah, I’m under no illusion about romance,” she replied, feeling her inner snark coming out. “There’s no handsome, rich knight in shining armor on my horizon, only full bedpans.”
Noah laughed but Charlotte’s eyes narrowed in irritation.
“Not a romantic, hey Nurse Wheeler?” Noah asked, leaning over the counter. His spicy scent tickled her scenes. “You have heard that this isn’t an ordinary Emergency Department,” he continued. “It’s the main hub of romance for the lonely staff of Perth’s largest ER. We don’t just fix people up. We fix people up.”
Indeed, Lisa had heard the stories. It had all started with the ER Registrar and Nursing Unit Manager, Alex and Sophie, getting together. Lisa had been doing her final training at the hospital with Dawn Granger, when the woman had found love with one of the local paramedics that was always bringing patients in. And the buzz had gotten even more intense when another nurse, Phoebe, had gotten married, to Alex’s best friend.
“So I’m led to believe,” Lisa replied sardonically. “I’ll be sure to be careful so I won’t need fixing up.”
“See I told you she’s not into romance.” Charlotte said, clearly not impressed she wasn’t Noah’s sole focus anymore. “Anyway I wanted to tell you, Noah, that your dad is amazing, I heard about the miraculous surgery he performed yesterday. No wonder he’s rated the best surgeon in the state, you must be so proud to be his son.”
Why did everyone fawn over Noah when it was his father doing all the good work?
“Yes, he’s very good at what he does.”
Something in his tone had Lisa looking up at Noah. His eyes had lost their earlier glint and his mouth, instead of always smiling devilishly in a way that tempted even the sickest of patients, was set in a firm line of annoyance. Was he annoyed at being compared to his father all the time? He never gave the impression it bothered him. He always seemed to enjoy the attention the other nurses lavished on him.
“Do you have plans after your shift, Noah?”
Lisa collected the folders she was working on. She didn’t need to hear the gushing anymore. She had better things to do than watch Charlotte and Noah organize a date.
As she went to walk past them, a hand halted her progress. The warmth from his fingers radiated through her, increasing her heart rate, making her momentarily forget how much he annoyed her.
“Yes?” If he asked again if she had received a flower or chocolate delivery today, she was going to stomp on his foot.
“I wanted to say thanks for the way you handled that impalement we worked on a couple of days ago.” A construction worker had fallen on site onto some exposed steel rebar and gotten critically wounded. Lisa wasn’t sure she’d ever seen so much blood before in her life. It was one of the toughest shifts she’d worked, but it was also one of the most rewarding ones. “You were cool under pressure and anticipated my every need, which made it so much easier to save the man’s life. A more experienced nurse couldn’t have done better under the circumstances, Lisa.”
His words rendered her speechless. It was the last thing she’d expected to come out of him. Noah had been terse, seeming angry throughout the complicated procedure, and Lisa had thought perhaps he was upset that the only available nurse to assist him was a rookie. When they’d finished, he’d left the room without a word to her. His compliment now was unexpected to say the least.
“Thank you. But I think it works both ways.” Lisa needed to get away and process what Noah had said to her. Was there more to him than just being the entitled son of a prominent surgeon? “I need to hand over these files.”
This time Noah let her pass.
“I’ll see you later in the shift, Nur—Lisa.”
• • •
“So are you ready for the rush this evening?”
Lisa looked up and saw Emergency Registrar Dr. Alex Scavoni, leaning casually against the counter.
“As ready as I’ll ever be, I think.” She said with a laugh. “I’m surprised to see you here, Dr. Scavoni. Shouldn’t you be at home enjoying the evening with your wife?”
“It’s Alex, and you know we don’t stand on ceremony here, Lisa. Besides,” he laughed. “Trust me when I say Sophia and I have already had an enjoyable afternoon.”
“That’s nice,” she mumbled as she felt the blush bloom in her cheeks. Lisa didn’t need any more information to know just how enjoyable his afternoon had been.
“Before it gets too crazy, can you please take these files up to Admin for me?”
“Sure.” Lisa took the files Alex held out and headed toward the bank of elevators. She knew some nurses looked at running errands like this for the doctors as a demeaning task, but she was happy to help out when and wherever she could.
Lisa pressed the button and waited forever for the elevator to arrive. Surely, by now all of the Valentine’s Day flower deliveries would have been completed.
Finally the elevator arrived and she stepped in. As the doors were closing a hand bisected the middle and the doors smoothed open. The smile she had on her face to greet her elevator companion died a slow death when she saw who was about to enter the compartment.
Why couldn’t he have been ten seconds later? Then she’d be on her way up and he’d be waiting for another elevator to arrive.
“Well, hello again, Nurse Wheeler. Still carrying around files I see. “
She rolled her eyes, and as the door closed she wished the ride up to be swift and painless and conversation free.
Lisa diverted her attention to gazing at the grubby ceiling of the elevator—anything so she didn’t look at Noah. He was standing far too close to her for her comfort. She counted the seconds, moving her gaze from the roof to the numbers changing on the electronic screen. Slowly, ever so slowly, the numbers were increasing. She just needed to make it a few more seconds and the ride would be over.
A sudden jolting had her losing her balance. She would’ve fallen over if it hadn’t been for Noah’s quick reflexes as he grabbed her by her arms. The files dropped to the floor, pages scattering everywhere. Like before, her flesh warmed under his hands, but she put the tingling feeling flowing through her body, like the fizz from fine champagne, down to the shock of the abrupt movement.
“What was that?” she asked as she pulled herself away from his touch.
“I’m not sure.”
There was an unnatural silence surrounding them and in an instant Lisa knew what the problem was.
The elevator had stopped.
She flicked her eyes up to the electronic floor display. Where little red dots formed the floor numbers, there was nothing but black. The lights flickered and blackness filled the space. Lisa held her breath, hoping they would come back on.
She let her breath whoosh out in relief when they flared back to life. Only half came back on, but it was better than not at all. At least they wouldn’t be stuck in the dark. She made her way to the button panel and stabbed the “doors open” button, but nothing happened. Lisa hit it again, and again, but t
he steel doors didn’t budge.
“Oh shit, we’re stuck.”
Chapter Two
“Tell me something I don’t know,” muttered Noah at her comment. “Do you have a phone?”
She patted her pockets, but they were flat and empty. She must have left her cell at the desk. “No. You?”
“No.”
“What? You don’t have your phone?” Lisa shook her head in surprise. “Shouldn’t you always have your phone on you?” She spied the little black device clipped to his jacket pocket. Hope was not lost. “Your pager! Use your pager to send a message and let them know we’re stuck.”
He cleared his throat. “It’s broken.”
“Broken? Are you serious? No phone and a broken pager? Isn’t that convenient?” Lisa was aware she wasn’t exactly being rational here. It wasn’t his fault they were potentially stuck, but the prospect of being confined alone with him for an unknown amount of time already had her nerves fraying.
“No, it’s not convenient! I was taking it upstairs to get it replaced,” he bit the words out. “You don’t honestly think I want to be stuck here, do you? Dammit, I should’ve taken the stairs like I always do.”
“Perhaps you should’ve.” Lisa retorted. He was the one who stuck his hand through the doors to stop them closing.
“Great. This is just great.”
“I guess we have to press the call button,” Lisa said, resignedly.
“You didn’t think to try that when you were over there before pressing buttons?”
“I figured we should wait and see if they’d make some sort of announcement. I wonder if there are other people stuck or we’re the only ones.”
Whirlwind Romance: 10 Short Love Stories Page 50
